Tide-motor.



S. S. 'DEEMER.

TIDE MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30,1912.

Patented July 22, 1913.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1 wwumioz S. S. DEBMER.

TIDE MOTOR.

' APPLIOATION FILED JULY 30, 1912 Patented July 22, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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iiifslillllii '3 STATEC PATENT ()FFlCE.

SEE-DEN S. DEEEIIER. (3F NEXV CASTLE DELA 753E. ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BENJAMIN T. ALLEN, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

TIDE-MOTOR.

Application filed July 30, 1912.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all w/zmu it may concern, 4

Be it known that l, SnLnnN S. DEEMER, a

c lZ-HD of the United States, and resident of N W Castle, in the county of Newcastle and State of Delaware, have invented certain new and useful 'lmproi 'einents in T ide- Motors: and I do hereby declare'the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same. reference being had to the ac companying drawings, forming part of this cientmotor mechanism which will operate with equal etiiciency regardless of the direction of current flow past the same, and with W ich (the motor mechanism will be in p0' sits-an for etl'cctivc operation at all stages of the tide, thereby providing in effect a motor which will operate continuously save for the brief periods when the tide is sta tionary. v

The invention consists in certain novel details of construi'riion and combinations and arrangzfeincnts of parts, all as will be hereinafter described and pointed out particularly in the appended claims;

Referring to the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is an elevation somewhat diagrammatic in character of a tide motor building and tide motor en'ibodying the present improvements; Fig. 2 isa horizontal section through the building in a plane below the second story floor and showing the motor and parts associated therewith in top plan; Fig. 3 is a section in a vertical plane centrally of the motor mechanism and channel through which the tide is allowed to ebb and flow.

Like letters of reference in the several indicate the same parts.

The apparatus forming the subject matter of the present invention. is designed to be located in one of many channels through which strong urreut-s are established by the 1 K tides, such channels for instance, as are common along lllB'QilSlGIIl coast of the United States and which channels usually form the communicating links between relatively large inland bodies of shallow water and the ocean. The Working parts of the apparatus are located Within a house which is preferably, though not necessarily, a permanent immovable structure carried by suitable foundations which provide a channel or passageway between. two side or wing portions A, and it Will be understood that the building may embody a plurality of such channels depending upon the Width of the stream and capacity of the apparatus. In each instance, however, it is preferred that the current flow shall be directed into the channel or channels through the building and its velocity increased by detlcctingbulkhcads or piers, such as indicated at B in Fig. 2, and that across each entrance opening there shall be arranged suitable gratings or guards C to prevent the entry of debris.

The building is designed to provide floor space located a considerable distance above the water level, as, for instance, a st-round,

the channel through the building, and the inner faces of the pontoons are preferably substantially in line with tile 'des of the entrance and exit. openings, W11 reby a di= rec-t channel is formed through the entire building and pontoon,*th1 u h which Xtlte Water may pass at high 'vcloci y A relatively heavy shaft is mdliii ed in suitable hearings on the two side i 1i us of the pontbon, said shaft indicatedahG in the drawings forming the pivotal'\ supiort for two structural steel side fra es H each preferably of truss formation and adapted to form the supports for two series otivaicr motor \vlu c-ls. "he truss frames ii are minim-toil together for tlicl sake of rigidity by cross pieces or stiffciiers 1. lo--- can-(l \vcll'loivard ,the ends of the frames and the motor wheels are mounted i bearlugs \vluu'cbv they will also add to 'h c rigiditv of the structure and serve to main-\ lain the alimiueut and position of the truss frames. One set of motor Wheels is located on one side ofthe axis or pivotal support and the other set on the opposite side of the axis or pivotal support and they extend in lot than

where the blades are actually leaving the Water. -Tlie blades are conveniently formed of steel lates and the end rims of metal so as'to re uce water resistance to a minimum.

In operation, it is designed that during the flow of the water in one direction through the apparatus, one set of motor wheels shall be in operative position, and

'during the flow of the water through the apparatus in the opposite direction the other set of motor wheels shall be in operative position; thus, the two sets of wheels may be so formed as to give the maximum efficiency for the water flow available, thereby overcoming. to a large extent the difficulty of providing a single set of motor wheels which will be equally eliicient when the water is flowing in either direction. For shifting the truss frames and motor wheels, the shaft G is conveniently provided at one end with a bevel gear 9 with which meshes a-pi'nion g driven by a.worm wheel and worm g from a motor g The power from the motor wheels is preferably utilized by gearing the wheels of each'set together, as, for instance, by sprocket chains and wheels indicated at M in Fig. 2, and by providing one of the motor wheel shafts with a sprockwheel N around which a driving chain, indicated at O in Fig. 3, may pass and extend up through the floor into the .room above for connection withfany suitable machinery to be driven, an electric generator, for instance, which may be used to supply current to a set of secondary batteries from which .the working circuit may be supplied and from which current may be taken to operate the motor 9 Each end of the truss or rocking frame carrying the motor wheels is preferably limited in its downward movement by stops or brackets P located on the inner sides of the ontoon, and it is designed that when the fiame is brought to rest against on e' 'of these stops, the motor wheels shall be'immersed to the proper depth for securing the most highly efiicient service,'but should less power be required, obviously the frame may be elevated slightly so as to reduce the immersion and correspondingly reducethe.

Having thus described my invention, what i I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

In a tide motor, the combination with a pontoon embodying side portions having their proximate faces substantially straight to form a Water channel through the pontoon, a shaft bridging the space between the side portions of the pontoon, two truss frames centrally mounted on said shaft, two series of transversely extending water mot0r.wheels journaled in the truss frames,

said wheels having blades of involute curve formation said two series of wheels being located in planes at an angle to each other, whereby when one set is in depressed operative position the other set will be elevated above the water level, sprocket chains forming gearing connections between the motor wheels of each set and driving connections from one of the motor wheel shafts of each set of motor wheels for utilizing the power generated thereby and means for tilting the frame to move either set of wheels into operative position.

SELDEN S. DEEMEB. Witnesses:

KATE F. DEEMER, BENJ. T. ALLEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. 

